Screen magic

Watching and listening

Your child may have a vision impairment. The eye condition may reduce the clarity of images, an awareness of brightness differences, the ability to distinguish colors, and/or the ability to see the complete television screen.

Most young children experience temporary conductive hearing losses, where fluid accumulates in the middle ear, reduces the loudness of sound, and affects speech understanding. Your child may also have a sensori-neural hearing impairment that reduces both audibility and clarity of sound. The child may require hearing aids or cochlear implants for speech communication, and perhaps even a special device for listening to television.

Room conditions

Ideal room conditions for watching and listening to television (and also for communication in real life) include:

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  quiet surroundings
  

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  a carpet on the floor and soft furniture to absorb sound and reduce room echo
  
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  no auditory or visual distractions (e.g., other children or adults talking nearby)
  
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  a location away from windows or bright lights that produce glare
  

Context

When a person communicates, each spoken word is usually associated with other words, phrases, or sentences that precede or follow it. This is called linguistic context. Children often rely on linguistic context, the current situation, and life experience to discover the meaning of an unfamiliar word they have heard (e.g., “When Jan broke her leg, she rode to the hospital in an ambulance.”).

When your child watches television, it may not be obvious what a character is saying or doing if the character speaks an unfamiliar word, a spoken sentence is too complex, or your child has not personally experienced what is happening on-screen. Your child may make sense of what the character said by referring to the context in which the message was spoken. It is common for children to learn from television in this way – by experiencing new words, expressions, or concepts in a meaningful context.

Some types of context that appear in children’s television programs include:

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  Situational (background information, location, setting: “One day, Rat-in-the-Hat was driving down Cuddles Avenue…”)
  
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  Simultaneous activity (looking, listening, pointing, showing, making: As Alex put his hand on the paper, he said, “Now draw around your fingers like this…”)
  
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  Non-verbal (facial expression, posture, gesture: When a policeman holds his hand up like this, it means “Stop!”)
  
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  Interpersonal (the relationship between characters: Mother Pig reminded Peppa, “Don’t forget to put on your boots before you...”)
  
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  Sentence structure/content (word order and word relationship: “How can we find out if the table will be too big? We can measure it!”)
  
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  Linguistic (topic, narrative structure, sequential and cumulative effects: “Harry is a dog. He was very dirty. The family gave him a bath. Now Harry is clean.”)
  
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  Conversational (what one person says often influences how another person responds: “Where’s your sister?” “She’s at school!”)
  

The meaning of an unclear spoken message may be discovered from what happens before, during, or after the message.

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  Before: Pingu’s father tastes some food that Pingu’s mother has prepared, and then says, “_____!”
  
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  During: Pingu says “_____!” as he looks at a picture of a tall stone tower in a history book.
  
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  After: Pingu’s father says, “_____!” to Pingu, who is going camping. Pingu goes outside, takes a fish off the drying rack, and puts it in his backpack.
  

Narrative structure

Some television programs produced for children contain short video recordings of familiar activities in a story-like sequence, usually accompanied by voice-over narration (e.g., children get ready for school, a woman paints a fence, a man makes a salad). Animated television programs for children usually include a sequence of related events that tell a story. Most simple children’s stories follow a basic cause-and-effect structure, with a beginning, middle, and end. This familiar structure gives meaning to the physical actions and spoken dialog.

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  It starts to rain. Jenny gets wet. She runs inside her house.
  

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  Mr Crow can’t read a sign. He puts on his glasses. Now he can see.
  
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  It’s bedtime. Max goes to sleep. He has a scary dream.
  

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  Setting/orientation: At the beginning of the story, the setting, situation, and main characters are introduced, usually through spoken language or visible images (when, where, who, what)
  
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  Initiating event: Early in the story, a problem or complication occurs that changes the situation. This event may be described through spoken language and/or visible images
  
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  Intent: The main characters are motivated to correct the situation, expressing what they plan to do with spoken language or physical behavior
  
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  Implementation: They usually try to resolve the problem or eliminate the complication through visible action
  
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  Resolution/consequence: The outcome may be an observable result of the characters’ actions or a less observable psychological/emotional result
  
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  Final condition: At the end of the story, there usually is a return to stability or calm
  

Although it is a warm, sunny day, Morgan (a teddy bear) wishes that it would snow so he could play outside and make a snowman. Banana #1 (B1) and Banana #2 (B2) overhear Morgan and decide to help him. During the night, they create “snow” from shredded white paper and cover themselves with white sheets, pretending to be snowmen. In the morning, Morgan and the other teddy bears wake up and see “snow” outside. They discover B1 and B2 beneath their snowman costumes. All are happy and play together in the “snow”.

In this case,

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  The orientation is presented through visible images of the setting
  
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  The initiating event is conveyed through Morgan’s spoken language
  
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  The Bananas’ response and intent are conveyed through their spoken language
  
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  The Bananas’ implementation of change is achieved through their actions
  
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  The consequence is expressed by the Teddies, through their actions and spoken language
  

Most stories that appear on television are produced with camera techniques that attract and maintain the attention of children, sound recording methods that establish a setting or mood, and editing that joins scenes together. Producers of children’s programs usually try to present important parts of the story through obvious visible action or spoken dialog that clearly describes what each character is thinking, feeling, or planning. The aim is to help children comprehend what is happening at any moment in the story, and understand how current on-screen activity relates to what happened before or what might happen next.

Social/observational learning

It is common for children to imitate the behavior of people they observe every day. By repeatedly watching and listening to parents, neighbors, and friends, they learn new words (e.g., wok), household routines (e.g., washing hands before meals), and social formalities (e.g., saying “thank you”). Neither specific teaching nor specific rewards are required for a child to learn. A child can learn by simply observing a role model. A child is more likely to imitate a person’s behavior if the person is similar to the child in some way (e.g., gender or appearance).

Observational learning¹⁷ may be influenced by external rewards, such as acknowledgment, approval, or praise from an adult, and/or internal rewards such as a feeling of pride, satisfaction, or a sense of accomplishment. Punishment may discourage the child from displaying an undesirable behavior.

In general, for observational learning to occur, a child must:

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  Pay attention to the modeled behavior
  
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  Understand the behavior
  
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  Be able to remember details of the behavior
  
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  Possess the ability to reproduce the behavior
  
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  Be motivated to demonstrate the behavior
  
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  Have an opportunity to demonstrate the behavior.
  

Producers of educational television programs typically rely on a child’s capacity for observational learning to achieve positive outcomes. The programs are designed to attract and maintain the attention of children in an entertaining manner, while on-screen characters model spoken language, physical skills, problem-solving, and positive social behaviors. If all the necessary conditions exist (as listed above), children can learn many things from observing favorite characters, and then imitate what they heard and saw.

Social cognition

The term social cognition describes the process by which a child judges another person’s mental state (that is, what the other person seems to know, believe, feel, or want). The process is also referred to as a theory of mind¹⁸. This ability can help the child interpret a spoken message or predict another person’s behavior. The other person’s state of mind may be suggested by recent or anticipated events, the social situation, the nature of the conversation, and/or non-verbal cues. Awareness of another person’s mental state is important for social functioning and can help a child coordinate relationships with family and friends.

As a child grows, the child learns that others may think or feel differently in a particular social situation. The child learns that what another person is thinking and what that person says or does may not correspond, and that this inconsistency¹⁹ can be the basis for surprises, secrets, tricks, and even lies.

In general, children begin to talk about thoughts, feelings, and desires by about age three or four, and have acquired adult-like social awareness by about age eight or nine. A child’s language ability, use of thinking/feeling verbs (e.g., spoken to a cat: “I think you want some dinner!”; spoken to a friend: “I’m feeling sleepy.”), and general social competence are important factors. Pretend play, where the child learns to think about the same object in different ways (a flat lump of dirt = an imaginary hamburger), appears to be an early developmental stage. Children tend to acquire social cognition more rapidly when they are regularly exposed to conversations in which other people use words to express their thoughts and feelings.

Watching television is different from most daily communication – it is not an actual interactive experience. Although some actors speak directly to the camera, they do not respond to the behavior or spoken language the child produces while viewing the program. More often, the child observes communication between actors or characters on television from the child’s own (third-person) point of view – or perhaps from the point of view of one of the characters (see pages 3 and 4). To understand each character’s motivation, the relationship between the characters, and thus the details of a story, game, or activity, the child must try to understand each character’s thoughts and feelings, and base this on whatever information is available.

A character’s goal or purpose is often an important part of a story’s structure. The goal may be implied by the character’s behavior (e.g., shivering) or clearly stated (e.g., “All I want is a room somewhere, far away from the cold night air.”). This goal may motivate the character throughout the story. In many cases, the character’s success or failure to reach the goal indicates the end of the story. Although comprehension of a story often depends on awareness of a character’s aim or purpose, many children emphasize characters’ actions rather than their mental states when they recall and re-tell a story they have seen on television. In contrast, adults tend to recall characters’ goals and the conditions or events that led to achievement of those goals²⁰.

Empathy depends on an understanding of another person’s state of mind. A young child with undeveloped social cognition, or an older child with impaired social cognition, is unlikely to understand a television character’s thoughts, feelings, or motivations – especially if these are not clearly stated. A child with poor social awareness is not likely to comprehend the meaning of subtle cues, behavior, or abstract dialog in a television program. The child may have great difficulty maintaining attention to a story whose plot is based on complex social interactions.

Incidental learning

Incidental learning is random learning that can occur at any time and in any place. It is nearly always unplanned and unintentional, and doesn’t require the child’s involvement in a formal activity. Incidental learning occurs when a child discovers something new or casually watches and listens to what is happening. For example, the child may observe how other children play a game, work together, or behave in a particular situation. Most ordinary learning occurs in this way – without a teacher.

A child may learn without being aware of learning – even while “having fun”. For example, children learn when they:

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  Observe other children – one friend likes to eat broccoli; another friend refuses to eat vegetables; two children pretend to be cats; a young child has a tantrum in a store
  

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  Observe animals – a small dog licks a big dog’s face; a father bird feeds his baby in the nest; worms and snails move without legs
  
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  Observe nature – new plants sprout in spring; some flowers close at night; lightning always precedes thunder; there is less daylight in winter; bees make honey
  
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  Interact with other children – a friend has a pet lizard; a friend has seven brothers and sisters; a neighbor was born in another country; a cousin has a rock collection
  
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  Interact with objects/materials – mix red and white → get pink!; you can’t cut metal with scissors; wash your paintbrush, or it will be ruined
  
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  Experience – it’s cold outside → wear a coat and hat; if you fall down you will hurt your knee; the stove may be hot → be careful!
  
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  Find something – a leaf, rusty nail, empty water bottle, dead butterfly (Draw a picture of it. Where did it come from? Write a story about it.)
  

Incidental learning may be compared with intentional learning. Intentional learning is usually prescribed or initiated by someone else (e.g., a teacher who directs the child’s attention and points out important features). Incidental learning may occur unexpectedly during an intentional learning activity. A child may learn from a distracting or unwanted feature of the surroundings: a broken toy in a corner; a helicopter flying overhead; a spider spinning a web; or even dust under the furniture. Incidental learning occurs when a child attends to what may be described as the background.

Children may shift their attention between the foreground and background while observing a scene or activity, and acquire information from both locations. Inquisitive children who actively scan their surroundings for items of interest are said to express “creativity”²¹. Children who are often distracted by objects or activity in their surroundings, however, may be described as having an “attention deficit disorder”²².

What can a child learn from watching or listening to background details during a television program? Specific objects, scenery, theme music, and sound effects are often included to provide the young viewer with important information regarding the situational context in which foreground dialog or activity occurs. In many cases, the spoken language or action observed in the foreground derives much of its meaning from what appears in the background.

If the screen is cluttered with too many attractive objects or too much activity, however, the child may have difficulty understanding what is happening in the foreground and recalling important content. If background sounds or images are not directly related to the main content of the program, this may interfere with the child’s ability to remember details. When screen images are complex, younger children may have greater difficulty identifying important information than older children.

Adult co-viewing and related activities

It is common for young children to learn communication skills from familiar adults while participating in daily activities such as cooking, washing clothes, pet care, or bath time. You can easily convert activities like these into learning opportunities, for example, when steaming vegetables, measuring washing powder, feeding the dog, or searching for a bath toy. You are likely to expand your child’s language as you respond to what your child says in each situation.

In a similar way, you can help your child benefit from watching television through simple role-play – to help your child understand each character’s thoughts, feelings, motivations, and actions. You can provide basic art/craft materials, dolls, or toy animals that enable the child to mimic what is seen and heard, and to play in parallel with the characters. You can help your child understand what is happening on television by answering questions and expanding expressive language.

Co-viewing a television program with a young child can facilitate the child’s language development in ways that are similar to co-reading a picture book. Both activities include shared attention to an image, reference to details, repetition of dialog, description of an activity, and questions to clarify meaning. Follow-up discussion and related activities can help the child learn new vocabulary, understand relationships among the characters, become aware of cultural differences, and develop prosocial behavior.

© Norman P. Erber 2015

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